Project: Moonlight
by HTKWolfe777
Summary: The sequel to Operation: "Rewind". With Eggman dead, and Shadow the new owner of his effects, the Ultimate Lifeform has decided to seek out the robot that tried to kill him a month ago. But with a new threat on the rise, he may find himself somewhat destracted. Please Review. Angel the Hedgehog is property of Chocoholic Princess.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

Rouge the Bat sits in a folding chair by the pool on the Egg-Carrier, reading a magazine. She's wearing sunglasses, and a dark pink bikini in place of her usual outfit. She glances over at the pair next to her. Cocoa, a chocolate colored bat, and Reave, a black cat with gray stripes are in plastic lawn chairs a few yards down the pool. Reave has a pen in his hand, and is teaching Cocoa how to make it flip end over end between her fingers.

"You just need to relax, and focus," Reave smiles at Cocoa. "Here, watch closely..." He slowly demonstrates, emphasizing each movement of his fingers, and then he nods to her.

Cocoa licks her lips, and imitates his movements. It's halfway across her hand before she drops it, "Oops."

Reave chuckles, "You're just nervous." Cocoa blushes, and looks away. Rouge smiles to herself, there's a pretty peaceful atmosphere today.

"TARZAN!" From a high diving board Spike leaps into the air. He curls into a ball, his unruly quills sticking straight out. He hits the water, sending up a geyser-like explosion of water.

"It never lasts," Rouge rolls her eyes, and puts her sunglasses on her forehead. A minute or so passes, and then Spike comes up for air. She calls out to him, "If you put a hole in that pool, I will drown your ass!"

The Ash-Gray hedgehog floats on his back, putting his hands behind his head. "If you come in here looking like that, I could die happy, baby!" He winks, and then starts using his legs to propel himself in a slow circle.

Rouge rolls her eyes, and goes back to her magazine. Reave looks over at her, "I thought you said that you couldn't swim?"

"I said I don't like to, but that doesn't mean that I can't." Rouge puts her shades over her eyes, and sighs.

Spike calls out from the pool, "Y'know, I'm pretty surprised with Shadow. From what you've told us about him, Rouge, and from what we see of him, it just seems weird that he would accept this place after Eggman offed himself." Spike sits up, and starts treading water, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, it just strikes me as kinda weird. This last month has been heaven, I swear!"

"It has been kinda nice," Cocoa glances at Reave. "I'm glad you got to talk to your sister, Spike. If you don't mind me asking, why _did_ you run away?"

Spike shrugs, "Nah, I don't mind. I just figured Amy would say I was being stupid, or something." Spike swims to the edge, and climbs out of the pool.

"It was our dad, y'see," Spike grabs a towel, a starts drying off. "Mom, and Pops had decided early on that Ma would teach Amy to be a good woman, and dad would teach me how to be a man. Didn't exactly go as planned, at least not with me anyhow. Dad was hell-bent on using me to dissolve the old status thing, as if I needed to do anything."

"Status thing?" Rouge raises an eyebrow, and sets down her magazine.

"Yeah, he was obsessed with the classes, and their skill-sets."

"Classes," Cocoa furrows her eyebrows. "Do you mean hedgehogs can learn to summon weapons, or run faster than sound?"

"Ah, no, I'm talking about social classes. Y'see, in the old days hedgehogs were considered some of the more powerful Mobians, but there was a divide in the species. You had the Alpha Class hedgehogs which were known for their speed, and an ability to use Chaos Powers. Shadow, and Sonic fall right into this category. Then there was the Beta Class, like my sister, and I. We can't use Chaos Powers, no Beta can, but we do have our own set of powers. Betas tend to be physically stronger than Alphas, and we can summon a weapon at will that resembles our temperaments. Endurance appears to be something of a shared trait, how else would Amy have spent so long chasing after Sonic?"

"What was that thing about tempers?" Cocoa tilts her head.

"Well, Beta hedgehogs can summon a weapon at will, right? Well more often times than not the weapon symbolizes what it's like when we lose our tempers. Amy has always been very blunt, straightforward with her feelings, hence the massive hammer. I have a bit more control, so I get my Katana."

"Wasn't that the weapon of the Samurai?" Cocoa scratches her head.

Reave nods his head, "It was considered to be a Samurai's soul, and courage. The only time they ever drew their swords was to take a life, that is if they were noble anyhow. I've only seen Spike lose his temper once in all the years I've known him, just be glad you weren't there."

Spike clears his throat, "Anyhow, like I said, dad was obsessed with making everyone forget the old standings, despite the fact that those who _do _know about them don't pay attention to them anymore. Eventually I just got tired of him ranking, and just left without looking back."

"How did Amy take it?" Reave grins at his friend.

"You were there, Reave, or do you not remember me running for my life? She smashed to a pulp at your feet!"

"No, I meant when you told her about this?"

Spike blinks, "Oh... Well she actually surprised me then. Apparently she takes my side of this argument."

"How sweet," Rouge rolls her eyes. Spike shrugs, and she pushes him back into the pool, towel, and all. When he doesn't come back up, she frowns. She stands at the edge of the pool, and bends over to peer into the water.

Spike shoot out of the water, and gabs her by the shoulders. Rouge yelps in surprise as Spike pulls her into the pool. Cocoa, and Reave glance at each other, eyebrows raised. "Five bucks says Spike comes out of there alive?"

"No way," Reave shakes his head, and stares at the water.

_**-Los Angeles-**_

_Why is it so dark? ...oh, my eyes are closed. They feel so heavy..._

Sonic's eyes crack open, and the light hurts his eyes for a moment. After a minute, he opens his eyes again, and glances around blearily.

_Where am I? ...Looks like a hospital. _

Sonic's eyes fall on a sleeping form by his left hand. He grins at Amy, and then frowns. What happened, and how did he get here? He groans, and Amy lets out a small moan before her eyes flutter open. When she sees Sonic's eyes open, she gasps, "Sonic!"

"Hey, Ames," his voice comes out hoarse, and dry.

She stands up, "Want some water?" Sonic nods, and she darts out of the room. She comes back a minute later with a bottle of water.

He sits up, and she offers him the bottle. He takes it, and takes a drink, "Much better."

Amy takes a seat next to his bed, "Do you remember anything?"

Sonic thinks hard, it hurts which he doesn't find funny, "I remember Tails flying me out to sea so I could have some fun with old Egghead. The Egg-Carrier was in the air, and I remember wondering how that was possible, because Chaos sunk it years ago. I remember grabbing onto his hovercraft as he got beamed onto it, and getting hit hard by something. It's a bit blurry after that, but somehow I can remember hearing Shadow's voice."

Amy nods, "He helped save you, Sonic. Eggman had you held captive for over six months! We had assumed that you had just gone for an adventure again when no one saw you again."

Sonic shrugs, "Sounds like something I'd do, can't blame ya." He takes another drink of water, "So did I miss anything?"

Amy gulps, and scratches her head. "Well, there were the Zombies..."

Sonic blinks at her, and starts to laugh, "Wow, okay, but really, what did I miss?"

Amy purses her lips, "Well it's the truth, Sonic. Eggman stole some nanobots from one of Tails's labs, and used them to turn everyone into Zombies. Shadow showed up, and helped us put an end to it. After that we found you on the Egg-Carrier, and brought you here. The doctors said that you were suffering from severe malnu- mal-, ugh, they said that you needed bed-rest, and lots to eat. Apparently Eggman had kept you just barely hanging onto life."

Amy's eye began to tear up, "Oh, I'm so happy that you're okay, Sonic!" She moved to give him a hug, but stopped herself for fear of hurting him.

"Really, wow, he can really hold a grudge, huh?" Sonic chuckles, and reaches for the TV remote. "When I get out of here, I guess I'll just go pay him a little visit."

Amy frowns, "Um, Sonic..."

"Yeah, Ames?" Sonic looks at her, eyebrows raised.

Amy opens her mouth, but stops. She wants to tell him about how Eggman's suicide, but at the same time she doesn't. She's not comfortable talking about it, the memory of that horrible scene still fresh in her mind. She decides to tell him later.

"Shadow asked me to tell you that after you're out of here, and back to full health that he's coming to, quote, "Put you back in the hospital." Honestly!"

Sonic laughs, "Okay, first I'll play with Shadow, and then I'll play with Eggy."

Amy smile slightly, and turns her attention to the TV. She blushes when her perfume commercial come on. Sonic laughs, "So you're an actress? Cool, good for you!"

_**-Egg-Carrier-**_

Shadow's ears twitch as he hears the approaching clanking of metal feet. He turns to find HTK-7 W.O.L.F. Standing there.

"Shadow, surveillance footage of the hospital shows that Sonic the Hedgehog has regained consciousness." The hulking cyborg stares down at his master with glowing red eyes.

"Thank you, Wolf," Shadow nods. "Let me know if anything changes."

"Yes, Shadow." Wolf nods, and turns to continue working on projects that Robotnik had left behind for Shadow to use.

Shadow stands on the tarmac on the Egg-Carrier's front. He watches the water under him in thought.

_It's been a month since Rewind failed, It has to be soon. Metal Sonic knows that I survived, he has to with his mole inside G.U.N. _Shadow narrows his eyes, and turns, heading for the walkway. _I told him that he had the first move, now it's my turn!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Amy Rose whistles to herself as she walks through town to get home. She had spent the whole day with Sonic, occasionally leaving his room to grab him a chili-dog. She laughed to herself as she thought about it, some things never change.

She thinks back to the epidemic, and her fighting alongside her friends. Looking back, she doesn't think she would have done that way back when she'd first met Sonic. She would have probably cried, and prayed that someone would save her. She stops, and looks at her hands, _Just how much have I_ c_hanged? _

A groan behind her makes her yelp, and spin, hammer raised. She pauses when she sees it's just a kid holding his belly. She scoffs at herself, and her hammer vanishes. She bends over, putting her hands on her knees so that see can see the boy at eye-level.

"Awww, are you okay?" she tilts her head, and the child looks up at her with innocent eyes.

"My tummy... I-" Without warning he bends over, and throws up on the sidewalk. Amy jumps back a step in surprise. When the kid looks up at her, eyes full of tears, she feels sorry for the poor kid.

"Oh, you poor thing," she steps around the vomit, and put her arms around his shoulders. "It'll be okay, are your parents around?"

His eyes go wide with fear, "No, I can't go back, I can't!" Faster than Amy can blink, the boy ducks out of her arms, and takes off running.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Amy runs after him, _Jeez, this kid is fast! _

She chases him into an alley, and the kid has his back pressed against the wall on the far end. She slowly walks towards him, palms raised. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. My name's Amy, I just want to help, I promise."

The boy's heavy breathing slows, and he blinks at her. "You won't take me back, will you?"

"Of course not," she soothes the boy. She has no idea what he's talking about, but it has to be bad if it would scare him this badly.

The boy takes a cautious step forward, and then another. Suddenly he runs at her, and wraps his arms around her waist, sobbing. Amy hugs him close, and then leads him out of the alley by the hand.

"You can stay at my place," Amy smiles at the kid, and leads him to her car. She straps him into the seat-belt, and then turns the ignition. "By the way, do you have a name?"

The boy nods, a small smile on his face, "Cole."

"Nice to meet you, Cole." Amy drives the car onto the street, and away, completely unaware of hateful eyes watching her the entire time.

_**-Beverly Hills-**_

Amy yawns as she walks down the stairs. She starts when she hears a clanging in the kitchen, but then she remembers that she brought a guest home last night. She walks into the kitchen, and sees Cole standing behind the refrigerator door.

"Good morning, Cole," Cole pokes he head out from around the door, his mouth smeared with red. He closes the door, and runs over to her, a jelly jar in his right hand.

"Morning, Amy," Cole has a bright smile on his face. "Your house is _huge! _Do you really live here by yourself?"

She giggles, "Not for long, I hope." She takes on a dreamy expression as she imagines Sonic living here with her. Cole tilts his head, and then grins.

"WHOOT WHOOT!" he shouts, pumping his arm, and making Amy jump slightly. "Last train to La-La Land, now boarding!"

Amy blushes, and starts wiping his face clean with a paper-towel, "Oh, knock it of, you little smart-alack. Do you even know what that means?"

He shakes his head, "No, but whenever big brother says it, it people start laughing."

Amy giggles, "Okay then, today I have the day off, so I can play with you, if you want?"

Cole raises his eyebrows, "What are we going to play?"

Amy thinks for a minute, and then she smiles, "We can go out back, and fly kites! There's a good wind for it today.'

Cole looks out the kitchen window, and frowns. "I can't, I got Polymorphic Light Eruption"

"Poly-who?" Amy tilts her head to the side.

Cole looks at her sadly, "Sunlight gives me a rash, and makes my skin blister."

Amy's eyes go wide, "Wow, okay, hold on a sec..." She walks around the house, drawing curtains, closing blinds. In about five minutes the house is completely sun-proofed.

"There we go," Amy comes back to Cole, turning on lights as she goes. "I think I have some board games in the hall closet, if that's better?"

Cole nods his head enthusiastically, and Amy walks off to find Monopoly.

_**-Los Angeles Sewers-**_

"RAAAGH!" Deep within the earth comes a savage shout, and the crash of splintering wood. In a candle-lit room resides three humans, two female, one male. The younger of the two females, a teenager, is sitting on a crate with her head in her hands, while the older stands off to the side, arms crossed. The male is pacing back and forth in a fury, "Marisa, you were supposed to be watching out for him, how could you let him get away?!"

"No need to be so harsh with our daughter," says the older woman with a disapproving frown. "After the change we taught Cole to be stealthy because he won't be strong enough to fight for a long while yet. If anything, I think Cole should be congratulated when he returns."

The man rounds on his wife, "It's daylight out there, or have you forgotten? I wouldn't be so worried if Marisa was out there with him, but with him on his own there's no telling what he might do! He could be ash before nightfall, and then what?!"

"He's right mom," Marisa shakes her head in her hands. "It's all my fault! I should have paid more attention to him, and if something happens to him it's on my head!"

Her mother holds her close, stroking her hair, "Shh, shh, there there, baby. He'll be okay, he'll be okay. He may be but a child, but he's _my _child. Don't forget that, okay?"

Marisa nods against her mother's shoulder, a small smile playing on her lips. The door to the room opens, and a fourth figure steps in. He's also in his teens, and is dressed in a long, black trench-coat. He face is hard as he hangs the jacket on a hook on the wall.

"Logan, where's your brother?" The father crosses his arms, and narrows his eyes at his prodigy.

Logan turns to his father. "He was picked up by a Mobian," Logan growls. "A pink hedgehog. I followed them for as long as I could, trying to find an opportunity to quietly snatch Cole back, but the sun came up. It looks like she took him to Beverly Hills."

The  
Father's face turns red, "That's all we need, for Cole to accidentally reveal his nature, and for some Hollywood _bitch_ to use him as a publicity stunt!"

"A possibility, but unlikely, Rupert," The mother gives Marisa's head a pat, and stands up. "I made him memorize a cover-story that should explain his condition should he ever get separated from us. I made sure he understood that if people really knew what we are that they would kill him."

"Suffering from PLE, and Anemia will only explain so much, Dorathey." Rupert pinches the bridge of his nose. "He will have to hide his senses, speed, and strength long enough for us to get to him."

"Sunset is in fourteen hours, dad," Logan cracks his neck, and knuckles. "I'll use the car, by the time I get there stars should start appearing in the sky. I'll bring Cole back, and break the bitch's neck if I have to."

"I'll go too," Marisa wipes her eyes. "It's my mess, I should be the one to clean it up."

Rupert begins to calm himself, "Excellent, while you two are gone, your mother, and I shall go find something for Cole to eat. No doubt the poor kid will be starving after going nearly twenty-four hours without food."

"Maybe he'll eat the hedgehog," Logan grins to himself.

_**-Amy Rose Residence, Beverly Hills-**_

"Monopoly!" Cole claps happily. Amy pouts, she hadn't cut the kid any slack, but he was cleaning her out faster than a snow-blower.

"Jeez, kid, just how old are you?"

"I'm twelve!" He grins, and Amy gawks at him. He doesn't look any older than maybe six, or eight. She shrugs, some people just have genetics that make them look younger than they really are. _Better than looking older,_ she thinks to herself.

They hear a knock at the door, and Cole scrambles to hide behind the couch. Amy watches him in confusion before picking up her TV remote, and pressing a large red button. Surveillance footage comes up on the TV, and Amy smiles.

"It's okay, Cole, It's my best friend, Cream." Amy dashes to the door, and opens it. "Hi- Cream, what's wrong?"

The peach-colored bunny has tears in her eyes, "It's Cheese, Amy. He's sick, and I don't know if he's going to get any better..." She launches herself into Amy's arms, sobbing. "I'm so scared for him, Amy!"

"Oh no," Amy holds Cream close, and leads her to the couch. "Is Tails doing anything?"

Cream sniffs, wiping tears from her eyes, "He's trying, but he's not a doctor, Amy. I don't know what to do..." Movement draws Creams attention to the arm of the couch where Cole is peeking over the edge at her.

Cream blinks twice, "Who is that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Cream, this is Cole, he's staying with me."

Cream wipes the last of her tears away, and smiles at him, "It's nice to meet you, Cole."

Cole nods, but stays where he is, staring at her. Amy reaches over the arm of the couch, and puts Cole in her lap, "It's okay, Cream is the most gentle person I know." Cream put out her hand, and Cole tentatively shakes it. Still he says nothing, and just keeps staring at Cream.

"He looks so scared," Cream tilts her head at him, and Cole clings to Amy.

"He's just shy," Amy strokes Cole's head. "Hey, I got an Idea! We were just playing Monopoly, wanna join us?"

"But I was winning," Cole mutters. Amy, and Cream giggle.

"How about we just say that you won this round, and we start over so Cream can play too?"

Cole glances up at Amy, and then continues staring at Cream, "Okay."

The reset the game board on the coffee-table, and before too long Cole is winning again. About fifteen minutes into the game they are laughing, and having fun like there's no tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three:**_

The sky is a dark purple as a black Suburban slowly cruises down the road. The headlights are off, so it blends completely with the shadows. The heavily tinted windows do nothing to hinder the driver inside.

"Are you sure it's over here," Logan is bored. He has one hand on the steering-wheel, and he has his head propped on the other.

Marisa is leaning out of her window, nostrils flaring, "Definitely, this way. You know, we really lucked out that she drives a convertible, otherwise I wouldn't be able to pick up Cole's scent."

"Yipidy-do-da," Logan rolls his eyes.

"Ugh, you know, you could at least pretend to be worried about him! Who knows what could have happened to him by now!"

"I think you're forgetting what we are, sis." Logan gives her a quizzical look. "You could silly-puddy the little guy's finger into an electrical socket, and you'd just be wasting electricity."

Marisa shudders, "Please don't even joke about that, Logan. This is the problem that I have with you, and dad. You guys seem to this we're invulnerable, but we're not. On top of that, Cole is practically just a baby! How would you feel if you were his age, and suddenly had to kill just to survive?"

Logan smirks at her, "I was pretty damn thrilled, actually."

"Ugh, your hopeless!" She sniffs the air a few times, and her eyes go wide. "Wait, stop the car!"

Logan punches the gas, and then suddenly hits the breaks. Marisa smacks her head into both sides of her open window, and then give Logan a Death-Glare. He smiles at her smugly, head still propped in his hand, "I take it we found him?'

Marisa rolls her eyes, and then steps out of the car. Logan leaves the car running, but puts it in park as he also steps out. He whistles under his breath when he sees the house, "Whoa, it's actually less than I'd expected."

"For once we agree," Marisa says as she walks towards the pink mansion.

Logan catches up to her, "So what's the plan of attack?"

"We be polite, give her the sob story, and walk out calmly. If that fails we go to Plan B."

Logan grins maliciously, "I like Plan B."

Inside the mansion, Amy, Cream, and Cole are enjoying dinner. Amy smile when she notices that Cole has a little color back in his cheeks. They'd spent hours play everything they could from Monopoly to Charades. Amy chuckles to herself, remembering when Cole had thought that her Disco impression was someone with their finger in an electrical socket.

Amy looks up as the doorbell rings, frowning. Who could it be at this hour?

"Excuse me," she says, and checks her TV. One a human boy, the other a human girl, both somewhere in their teens. The boy has long black hair style into a ponytail, a long, black trench-coat, and a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl has short, wavy, black hair, and is dressed in a black tank-top with matching jeans. She can't see their faces because the have their heads down. She doesn't recognize the two figures on the screen, so she opens the door with the chain still drawn. "Um, hi... can I help you?

The girl gives her a sad smile, eyes brimming with tears, "Hi, I'm sorry to bother you this late, but the police just gave us the good news. I'm Marisa, and this is my brother, Logan." Logan gives Amy a small nod, a look of hope, and fear on his face.

"I'm sorry, but what about the police," Amy furrows her eyebrows.

"Well, you see, last night our little brother – his name is Cole – slipped away from us without us noticing." As Marisa says this she sniffs, like she's about to cry. "We were so scared..." She lowers her head, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

Logan rubs her back, and picks up the story, "We went to the police, thinking that someone might have kidnapped Cole, and they told us just an hour ago that they saw him getting into your car on some street-camera footage. They ran your license plate, Ms. Rose, and called us in. When they told us who Cole was with we asked to come here ourselves so that you wouldn't be embarrassed with your neighbors. We thought it might have been a little awkward having the police show up on your doorstep."

"Oh, hold on!" the still-sniffing Marisa dug around in her purse, and pulls out a photo. "I'm terribly sorry if this is a mistake, Ms. Rose, but just to be on the safe side could you tell us if you recognize him?'

Amy looks down at the photo, but says nothing. On it shows Logan, and Marisa, sitting on either side of Cole with their backs to each other. Amy looks at the smiling faces there, lost in thought.

_Well, they sound authentic, but... _Amy just can't shake the memory of Cole's panic when she'd asked about his parents.

Amy shakes her head, "I'm sorry, but I think there's been some kind of mistake. I can't remember weather or not I recognize your brother. I'm sorry that I couldn't have been more help."

Logan, and Marisa are silent for a minute, and then Marisa turns to Cole with a blank expression, "Plan B, please."

Before Amy has time to be confused, she's on her back across the room, her forehead hurting. Slowly, and dizzily, she sits up. The part of her door-frame that the chain had been screwed into had been ripped out, and is swinging back and forth from her door. Logan steps into her house, eyes hard. Marisa steps in behind him, a slightly kinder expression on her face.

"I'm sorry for the theatrics, Ms. Rose, I guess it's no use trying to act with an actress." Marisa shrugs, and sits on the back of Amy's couch. "We were just going to disappear, and eventually you would have forgotten all about us. But because we don't have much time... Well, we're going to make it so you don't _want _to remember us." She nods to Logan, and looks away.

Logan smiles evilly at Amy, and slowly stalks towards her, "Marisa doesn't have the stomach for this kinda thing, but hey, I'm not complaining." Amy goes pale, and her mind goes blank.

_What's going to happen to me?_

_CRACK!_

Out of nowhere Amy's coffee-table flies through the air, and sends Logan flying away from Amy. Marisa's eyes widen in surprise as Cole appears in front of Amy.

"Cole!" Marisa exclaims, and rushes forward. She stops when Cole lets out a feral snarl, startling Amy.

"Don't touch her!" Cole stands protectively in front of Amy, fists clenched.

"Stupid little punk!" Logan stands, a cut on his forehead healing rapidly. A sinister hiss escapes his lips, and his eyes turn a glowing red. His pulls back his lips, revealing sharpened upper, and lower canines.

"Logan, calm down!" Marisa steps between him, and Cole.

"No way, I'm gonna snap his little neck!" he demonstrates by picking up Amy's coffee-table, and tearing it in half.

Amy blinks, but she stands, putting Cole behind her. "Both of you stay back!" She summons her hammer, and raises it ready to strike.

Logan becomes a blur as he flits in front of her, and knocks the hammer out of her hands with a Back-Hand. He grabs Amy by the throat, and flits to the other side of the room. Cole tries to chase after him, but Marisa catches him, holding him close.

"You really have no idea just how lucky you are, kid." Logan doesn't take his eyes off of Amy as he talks to his brother, "Did you forget what it was like for us five years ago? We were starving, struggling just to survive! Now look at us; we're stronger, faster, and smarter than any human."

"Not smart enough, obviously," a deep voice behind Logan growls. Before he can turn around he's knocked into the next room. Amy, who had been dropped, looks up to see Shadow glaring at Marisa, fists clenched.

"Shadow!" Amy stands, rubbing her neck. In a puff of pink smoke her hammer reappears in her hands. "Please help me, Shadow. I can't let them take Cole away!"

Shadow narrows his eyes, and he frowns. Then he turns, and starts walking to the door, "Deal with it yourself."

"What?!" Amy goggles at him in shock.

Suddenly Shadow warps behind Marisa, and brings both fists down on her head. She crumples to the ground, unconscious. Cole looks down at her worriedly, and then starts backing away from Shadow.

Shadow pays him no attention, instead he looks up at Amy, and crosses his arms."Just what is going on here, Rose?"

Amy opens her mouth than a sudden thought comes to mind. "Well, you see, it goes like this," she takes few steps closer to Shadow as she speaks. "It started last night when I was coming back from – TAKE THAT!"

She catches Shadow off-guard as she whacks him in the side of his head with her hammer. Shadow goes flying into a bookcase, which comes down on top of him.

"Maybe next time he'll think twice before trying to sneak up on _me,_" she strides over to her phone, and calls the contact number Shadow had left her for emergencies. A robotic voice picks up on the other end.

"How may I help you, Ms. Amy Rose?"

"Hi Wolf, is Shadow there by any chance?"

"I'm afraid not, Ms. Rose. In fact, I was under the impression that he was coming to visit you tonight. Did he not make it?"

"Uh-oh..." Slowly looks over her shoulder to see Shadow standing there. His arms are crossed, his foot is tapping, and he's giving her a Death-Glare that would make the Grim Reaper wet his cloak. "Uh, sorry, Wolf, but there's been a misunderstanding... Bye!" She gently places the phone back into the receiver, and offers Shadow an awkward smile. She glances guiltily at his swollen cheek.

"...Rose..."

"I'm sorry," she blurts squeezing her eyes shut, and bracing herself. "I'm really am, but I thought you might have been Metal Sonic in disguise, or something! I had no idea, I'm sorry!"

Shadow raises an eyebrow, "Rose-"

"I know," she cuts him off. "It was stupid, and I'll never let it happen again, I swear!"

"Rose!" He raises his voice slightly, and she winces. "I was going to congratulate you for staying on your toes."

She opens her eyes in shock, and lets out a nervous laugh. Her eyes fall on the limp form of Marisa, "Oh my gosh, where's Cole?!" She whips her head back, and forth before darting into the dining room. She finds Cole standing there with his back to her, and rushes over to him.

"Cole," she says turning him to her. "Are you okay?"

Cole looks up at her, and then turns his head away. She follows his gaze , and her eyes go wide.

"Shadow..."

The black, and red hedgehog walks in when he hears Amy moan his name. He follows their gazes, and bares his teeth. On the table are three words carved deeply into its surface.

COME

GET

HER


End file.
